Day 5
My final day of the challenge started with what has become my usual breakfast, fruit and an XPhe Jump, with a pack of Quavers at 11am as a mid morning snack.
For lunch, i made myself a jacket potato with 40g of baked beans, a couple of apples and a gluten free millionaire shortbread bite. For dinner, i went back to a meal i had on day one, avocado on toast using Promin Fresh Baked Sliced Bread. With 2 gluten free teacakes for 0.5 exchanges each. I opted for this as it was very low in exchanges so i could use my last exchanges of the day on a pint of pale ale. Exchanges 0.5 - Quavers 2.0 - Jacket Potato 2.0 - Baked beans 0.5 - Millionaire shortbread bite 0.5 - gluten free teacake x2 1.5 - Pale ale Temptation of the day - Friday lunch is usually my treat lunch where i get some chicken wings from the supermarket deli so it would have to be that. |
Day 4
Its at this point i'm starting to think i picked the wrong week for this challenge, as i'm at work all day and out every evening. However i guess it creates an authentic experience.
I started my day like most others this week with my XPhe Jump Protein Substitute and some fruit along with my morning coffee, which i'm getting used to the taste of now after swapping my usual semi-skimmed for Taranis Dalia Milk Substitute and i'm actually enjoying it. I have found myself slipping into habbits already, i guess its a bit of laziness too, so i headed off again to the salad bar at the supermarket. I think its a combination of being un-inventive with my choices and being nervous about making the wrong choices that i'm sticking with practically the same lunch everyday, does anyone else get like this? Although, after promising yesterday i would add more exchanges into my meals i added 1.5 exchanges of new potatoes into the salad and had some chocolate drops as a snack, with a couple of apples and my XPhe Jump. After work i had another quick turn around at home before heading off out to a gig this time, a band called Jungle if you happen to be interested :) So i had to be quick again. I picked up some Aunt Bessies ready baked sweet potatoes from the supermarket on my big shop and had them with Violife grated cheese with a small rocky road bar and a Koko dairy free yoghurt for dessert both for 0.5 exchanges each, and my XPhe Jump Protein Substitute. The potatoes tasted really good considering they were pre-baked and frozen and only took 15 mins in the microwave, so were ideal for a quick free from exchanges meal. At the gig i was restricted to cider, which isn't my favourite but i coped, and after a couple of pints used 3 of my exchanges on a small bag of fries from McDonald's which took me up to 6 exchanges which i don't think is too bad of an effort on such a busy day. Exchanges: 1.5 - Potatoes in salad 0.5 - Gluten Free Chocolate Drops 0.5 - Gluten Free Rock Road Bite 0.5 - Koko Dairy Free Yoghurt 3.0 - Small bag of McDondalds fries Temptation of the day - the pork pies that were being passed around the office |
Day 3
So , yesterday was another busy day at Promin HQ. We had all our bread going out to our home delivery customers who use our DialaChemist service. So i had my quick breakfast at my desk, a banana & my Xphe jump wild berry, which i have decided is my favourite. Mid morning came and went and lunchtime was upon me before i knew it. I headed off to the supermarket to grab some lunch, i went to the salad bar again and grabbed a similar lunch to day 2, a salad with beetroot, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, onions & coleslaw and had that with some of the snacks i had picked up the day before, a gluten free millionaire shortbread for 0.5ex and a pack of quavers for 0.5ex along with my XPhe Jump Wild Berry.
After work, i had a 10 minute turn around between getting in the house and having to leave for cricket training, i grabbed a very quick sandwich using Promin Fresh Sliced Bread and some Violife cheese i picked up from the supermarket. After training i was very reluctantly dragged into the pub for a pint. Normally i would go straight for a pale ale but tonight had to settle on cider , which i believe is free from exchanges but please correct me if i'm wrong. When i got home it was around 9pm and i was starving! So i had to have something quick, so i used the last of my veggie fingers from the night before, with some butternut squash & red pepper mash and some green beans with a pack of skips and a gluten free rocky road bar (both 0.5 each) to make up my exchanges. All with my Xphe Jump Protein Substitute. I'm struggling to make up my exchanges without using snacks and junk food, so i'm going to make more effort to use exchanges in my meals between now and the end of the challenge. I'm interested to know if this is just me because i'm inexperienced or do readers have similar problems? Exchanges: 0.5 - Quavers 0.5 - Gluten Free Millionaire Shortbread Bite 4 - Bird's Eye Veggie Fingers 0.5 - Skips 0.5 Gluten Free Rocky Road Bite Temptation of the day - Pint of Pale Ale |
Day 2
Day 2 was my first day of the challenge in the office. I got in around 7am to open up the bakery for all our fresh bread which was being baked to go to the Republic of Ireland that afternoon. I had an apple and my Xphe Jump Wild Berry for breakfast, again i was surprised how much it filled me up. I then headed to the supermarket for my second attempt at a 'big shop,' this time i was more prepared and took our resident PKU guru Katya with me, who helped me pick out loads of things to snack on, which i was struggling with previously.
For lunch i had a salad from the salad bar at the supermarket which i made up of mainly tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, beetroot and coleslaw, with some Dr Schar gluten free pretzels (1/2 exchange,) an apple, a banana & a gluten free kelkio teacake (1/2 exchange.) All along with my Xphe Jump Protein Substitute, this time i went for orange flavour , which was good but my favourite is still the wild berry flavour. I'm curious to know if others use supermarket salad bars for lunches or do you prepare your own dinner to take with you when you're at work or out and about? The evening was my first experience of how eating a low protein diet would effect my social life. I was initially sceptical whether or not i should write about this in the blog but i guess its something a PKU'er or anyone needing to follow a low protein diet has to deal with regularly so decided it was important to write about. Before i decided to follow the diet this week i had previously arranged to go for dinner with my girlfriend and her grandmother at her grandmothers house, which was my biggest challenge yet, as i have never visited queen Maureen (my girlfriends grandma) without being offered mountains of biscuits, cakes, sweets etc. This caused some tension with my girlfriend as i suggested i take up a low protein dinner and cook it there for myself, however my girlfriend didn't want her grandma having to go to all the trouble of cooking a big dinner for only 2 people as she's well into her 70's so cant get around the kitchen as well as she used to and it takes her a lot of time and effort to cook for a group. (Which i think is totally understandable dear if you're reading :) ) In the end we decided to eat before and went to visit her after i had eaten. I'm curious to hear how/if readers adapt their social life around their diet so any feedback would be great? For that meal, as i know i was in a rush i oven baked 3 birds eye vegetable fingers which are 1ex each and had those with some butternut squash crinkle fries which were ready prepared and some mini carrots. When we got to Maureen's she was very interested to hear about why i was following the low protein diet for 5 days and all about PKU and other conditions requiring low protein diets, so i explained all about it to her, and she said she'll help to raise awareness by telling her church group about it. We then found a treat in her cupboard i could have, a gluten free macaroon for 1.5ex and had a bag a quavers for 0.5ex on the way home. Exchanges: - 0.5 ex Dr Schar gluten free pretzels - 0.5 ex gluten free chocolate teacake - 3 ex birds eye vegetable fingers - 1.5 ex 1 of Queen Maureen's coconut macaroons - 1 ex 2 bags of quavers Although i still didn't make it upto 7 exchanges i was getting closer. Temptation of the day - Another of Maureen's macaroons Once again, thank you for all the likes, shares and comments. They're really appreciated :) Tom x |
Day 1
I was anticipating today to be the easiest day of the challenge, mainly because its a bank holiday Monday and i had more time to prepare my meals. I tend not to get hungry until around lunch time but i made sure to eat something with my Xphe Jump Wild Berry Protein Substitute so i had my substitute with a banana. I have tried Xphe Jump a few times for taste testing etc, but not for quite a while and never had a full pouch, this was the part i was dreading most, however i found the taste absolutely fine. After this i had an apple with a coffee (using Taranis dalia milk) as a mid morning snack during a quick strategy meeting. For lunch i made avocado on toast (made from Promin Fresh Baked Sliced Bread) with tomatoes and balsamic vinegar, an idea i got from @conqueringpku on instagram. I love avocado and eat them all the time anyway so its great they're now classed as a free food. I also had a Koko Dairy Free Yoghurt as an exchange and another banana. I had this with XPhe Jump Cola Flavour this time and again, was surprised how easy it was to drink. I was also surprised how full i was from lunch, i think the protein substitute is helping with that and fills me up. In the mid afternoon it was an unheard of 27 degree's in Stockport so i decided to use 1/2 an exchange on a fab lolly to mark the occasion. In the evening i had my last Xphe Jump straight after the gym at around 7 then for my evening meal i still had some exchanges to use (i think this is how i am going to plan it, as i get most hungry in the evenings generally.) I made myself a huge plate of sweet potato fries with steamed veggies & Promin Burger Mix and had an actimel yogurt afterwards and some co-op own brand milk bottle sweets as a treat. Temptation of the day: 99 whippy from the ice cream man. Exchanges: 0.5 - Koko yogurt Fab lolly - 0.5 an exchange Promin Burger Mix - 1 exchange Cauliflower - 0.5 exchange Actimel Yogurt - 3 exchanges I was really struggling to find foods for 1 or 2 exchanges to get my exchanges up to 7. So i'm going back to the supermarket to find more snacks. |
Shopping - pre challenge
The day before the challenge started I headed over to Promin HQ to pick up some supplies. As well as Metax XPhe Jump which I am using as my protein substitute, I went for Promin Fresh Sliced Bread, Some Promin Pasta, Pasta in Sauce, Dessert Mixes, meals & Taranis Dalia Milk for my coffee (which I can’t live without.)
I then headed off to Morrison’s to pick up my shop bought items, I found this more difficult than I was expecting as I was in a rush and hadn’t had time to put a proper meal plan together. I picked up fruit and veg easily enough but struggled to find snacks and treats low enough in protein in the time I had. I ended up going through nearly every aisle of the store to find things to snack on, i'm sure you'll be able to relate. Despite this, I was able to get a few meals worth of food (check the Promin instagram page for pics) and get hold of a few snacks, mainly fruit, koko dairy free yogurts (for exchanges) and some milk bottle sweets that were free of exchanges. I then was able to make meal plans for the next 2 days.
I am going to put a more detailed meal plan together for the rest of the week before my next trip to the supermarket and get some tips from Katya for what snacks she gets in for her son.
I then headed off to Morrison’s to pick up my shop bought items, I found this more difficult than I was expecting as I was in a rush and hadn’t had time to put a proper meal plan together. I picked up fruit and veg easily enough but struggled to find snacks and treats low enough in protein in the time I had. I ended up going through nearly every aisle of the store to find things to snack on, i'm sure you'll be able to relate. Despite this, I was able to get a few meals worth of food (check the Promin instagram page for pics) and get hold of a few snacks, mainly fruit, koko dairy free yogurts (for exchanges) and some milk bottle sweets that were free of exchanges. I then was able to make meal plans for the next 2 days.
I am going to put a more detailed meal plan together for the rest of the week before my next trip to the supermarket and get some tips from Katya for what snacks she gets in for her son.
About us and the PKU challenge
Hi! My name is Tom Fletcher , I am one of the directors at Firstplay Dietary Foods Ltd, home of the Promin brand of low protein food products.
Despite not having PKU it has been a big part of my life since i was 2 years old (25 years ago back in 1993) which was when my parents Steve and Linda (who i'm sure many of you may have met at various events & conferences over the years) started the business from a small unit on an industrial estate in Stockport, United Kingdom with the back bedroom of our terraced house becoming "head office." Since then we've grown steadily and methodically to a team of 14 in a 15'000 square foot site where all the great Promin pasta, dried mixes & baked items are produced and packed as well as being home to our 3 offices.
Almost all my life i have been explaining what PKU is to people asking me questions like "what do your parents do?" or "what is your family business?" and more recently "what do you do for a living?"
So this year as a company and personally we're making a bigger commitment to raising awareness of PKU. As well as having a staff education day where we're planning to further educate all our already knowledgeable production and packing team on the challenges of living with PKU, with talks from one of our management team Katya Sheridan who's 10 year old son Matthew has classical PKU, and low protein cookery workshops, I will be following a 7 exchange low protein diet from Monday - Friday (7th - 11th May.) I will be using XPhe Jump protein substitute ( prominpku.com/product-category/xphe-jump ) as well as low protein products both prescription available and shop bought products.
I will be posting on this blog daily in detail as well as putting snippets of my day to day challenges on Facebook (www.facebook.com/promin.metabolics) although mainly on Instagram (@promin_metabolics)
I have also popped a PKU info graphic below - feel free to share on your social media pages :)
Tom x
Despite not having PKU it has been a big part of my life since i was 2 years old (25 years ago back in 1993) which was when my parents Steve and Linda (who i'm sure many of you may have met at various events & conferences over the years) started the business from a small unit on an industrial estate in Stockport, United Kingdom with the back bedroom of our terraced house becoming "head office." Since then we've grown steadily and methodically to a team of 14 in a 15'000 square foot site where all the great Promin pasta, dried mixes & baked items are produced and packed as well as being home to our 3 offices.
Almost all my life i have been explaining what PKU is to people asking me questions like "what do your parents do?" or "what is your family business?" and more recently "what do you do for a living?"
So this year as a company and personally we're making a bigger commitment to raising awareness of PKU. As well as having a staff education day where we're planning to further educate all our already knowledgeable production and packing team on the challenges of living with PKU, with talks from one of our management team Katya Sheridan who's 10 year old son Matthew has classical PKU, and low protein cookery workshops, I will be following a 7 exchange low protein diet from Monday - Friday (7th - 11th May.) I will be using XPhe Jump protein substitute ( prominpku.com/product-category/xphe-jump ) as well as low protein products both prescription available and shop bought products.
I will be posting on this blog daily in detail as well as putting snippets of my day to day challenges on Facebook (www.facebook.com/promin.metabolics) although mainly on Instagram (@promin_metabolics)
I have also popped a PKU info graphic below - feel free to share on your social media pages :)
Tom x